Kie's POV:

It was junior year tonight I was at a party with my boyfriend Dylan. We have been dating for one year and three months. He was a kook and we met at the country club. Our relationship has been perfect for the past year and three months. We've gone to school dances, dates, and even on vacation (my parents were there too).

He would bring me flowers at least once a month, just because. He paid attention to every small detail and made sure things were perfect. He was the man that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. He even got along with John B, Pope, and JJ. He didn't give me shit for hanging out with the pogues. There were times when he'd just go over to the Chateau and hang out with the boys.

It surprised me that he hung out with JJ the most. They'd go fishing together, go out on the HMS together, and JJ would even go golf with him. It was such an unlikely friendship. I'm just glad JJ was friends with the guy and not trying to fight him or scare him off.

There was a part of me that wondered how much the guys knew about my relationship with Dylan. I really hoped Dylan didn't share the intimate details of our relationship with my three guy best friends.

It's been a while since I've seen Dylan and I was heading up to the bathroom and I opened the wrong door to a bedroom. I tried to open the bathroom door, but it was locked so I waited outside. Pope got in line behind me and a few minutes later, the door opened and Oliva (a kook) came out, and right behind her was Dylan.

"Shit..." He whispered

"What the fuck?" I said upset

Olivia looked me up and down and smirked. Her hair was a mess, she had a hickey on her neck, I knew they just fucked. Pope walked up to Dylan and asked, "Did you just cheat on Kie?"

"Calm down, nerd... It's just sex" Olivia said to Pope

I looked into Dylan's eyes and then I ran downstairs in tears. I left the party and I ran to my house where I told my mom everything. She hugged me and then I went to shower. I laid in bed ignoring my phone that was blowing up with calls and texts. It really sucks because JJ told me a few weeks ago and I didn't believe him.

FLASHBACK

I was at the Chateau with everyone, Sarah and Dylan were there too. I noticed JJ was being more stand-offish tonight which was odd. I didn't think much about it but after Dylan left to go to work, JJ told me we needed to talk outside.

We went out to the dock and JJ said, "Kie, I don't know how to tell you this but I was out on Dylan's boat the other day with him and we passed another boat full of kooks. Olivia was on the boat and she turned around and shook her ass at Dylan and then she blew him a kiss and he caught it"

"What? Are you sure? He hates Olivia"

"I'm positive, I wouldn't lie to you about this"

"Really? Are you sure this isn't your stupid idea to break us up so you can go back to flirting with me?"

"No, fuck no... I'd never intentionally want to destroy your relationship but I had to tell you what I saw"

"Whatever, stay out of my damn relationship" I said storming off the dock

I went into the chateau and ignored JJ for the rest of the night. He never brought it up again and I was glad because he didn't need to be involved in my relationship.

END OF FLASHBACK

I fell asleep that night and woke up to a knock on my bedroom door. My mom was standing there with JJ.

"He insisted on seeing you" She said as JJ came in my room and sat at the end of my bed

JJ was the last person I wanted to see right now. I owe him an apology and I feel like shit from getting cheated on but eve shittier because I didn't listen to my best friend.

"What do you want to hear? You were right, I'm sorry, I should have listened"

"That's not why I'm here... I just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you that after Pope told us what happened, I beat his ass for you"

"You did?"

"You know I did" I said as she grabbed my right hand to see the damage

"Thank you and I'm sorry that I didn't believe you. I should have listened to you. I just don't know what I did so wrong or why I wasn't enough for him"

"Fuck Dylan! He's stupid as fuck to cheat on you..."

"I mean, he cheated on me with Olivia... She's the girl every guy wants"

"She's hot, but she has no personality and she's a slut... I know it hurts but he fucking knew what he was going and still did it anyway. It's fucked up and I hate that he's the happy one and you're miserable..."

"You guys are like best friends...."

"Woah, no we're not.... I fucking hate the guy. He's a total prick, stuck-up kook"

"Since when? You hang out with him all the time"

"Ever heard of the saying keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"He was dating you... I thought that maybe if we were friends it would help you not to end up hurt. You know like I could make sure he didn't hurt you and clearly, it didn't work because I had no idea he's been screwing Olivia for the past four months"

"Four months?" I asked

"Shit... yeah, he told me that during our fight" He said, and then he wiped my tears away with his thumb

"Jayge, why would you do that for me?"

"Because you're my best friend and you deserve the best and I failed and you still ended up getting hurt so I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault.." I said

"It's not yours either. There is no reason why anyone should ever cheat, especially when they are dating you. I don't want you to compare yourself to Olivia or any shit like that because I love you, we love you exactly the way you are"

I hugged JJ and I realized that maybe his stupid crush that he's always had on me isn't one-sided anymore. Our hug broke and I looked at him and said, "I need some time to get over this but maybe when the time is right we could go out some time like on a date, just me and you"

"I'd like that" He said

I rested my head on his shoulder and looked at his knuckles and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, they're a little sore but I'll be fine. It was worth it. I'd do it again too"

"Thank you for protecting me"

"Always"

It wasn't until JJ walked into my room and started talking that I realized it's always been him. He's always been the one protecting me, ever since we were kids. He pretended to be friends with my boyfriend all for me. And he's here now with me when he could be anywhere else but he's here, with me.

"Can I stay for a bit and watch a movie or something?" He asked

"Yeah, what do you wanna watch?" I asked

"Bridesmaids" He said

"Jayge, you hate that movie"

"I know, but it's your favorite and I want to watch something you like so that's what we're watching"

I pulled the movie up on my laptop and we got comfortable in my bed. My mom walked by and asked if everything was okay and I said yes. She didn't even comment about JJ laying in my bed with me. We finished the movie and he went home.

He has been super supportive and making sure I was okay over the next few weeks, all the pogues have. I haven't seen Dylan much but the rumor is that he's already moved on from Olivia to someone else.

It's been about two months and tonight when JJ walked me home from the chateau he asked, "Are you ready for that date?"

"Yes"

"Cool, do you prefer something around lunch or dinner?"

"Either or"

"Damn, you already can't make a decision and we're not even dating" He teased me

I smiled and he said, "I'm just kiddin', I'll pick you up around 4:30. It's nothing fancy so don't worry about dressing up"

"What should I wear?" I asked him

"You can wear whatever you want"

"That's not helpful... Can you tell Sarah so she can pick out my outfit?"

"Nope" He smirked

The next night I decided on wearing a simple white dress. It wasn't fancy, but it was nicer than what I usually wear. JJ showed up and he picked me up in the Twinkie. He drove us to this point on the beach, about thirty minutes outside of town. He had a blanket and a cooler. We had a picnic on the beach as we watched the sunset.

JJ was still my best friend, but this felt different. It felt more intimate. There was more eye contact, more touching, and flirting on both ends. The sunset was gone and it was starting to get dark. We cleaned up and headed back home. JJ dropped me off and he walked me up to the door.

"Listen, I hope tonight wasn't weird for you... Uh, you know going on a date rather than just hanging out but I had a lot of fun and I kinda suck at the whole dating thing, but I'm gonna try my best and if you want I'd love to go out on a second date with you"

"Jayge, you killed it with this date. I had fun and it was weird but not a bad weird. I'd love to go on a second date with you"

He smiled at me and we were both lost in each other's eyes. He took a step closer and I knew he wanted to kiss me. I wanted him to but he backed away and said, "Yeah, that's probably not a good idea to do on a first date"

"Why not?" I asked

"I don't know but Pope's always said never kiss on the first date"

"And since when do you listen to Pope?"

"I just don't wanna fuck this up with you Kie"

"You're not going to, I promise"

"Are you sure?" He asked taking a step closer to me as I nodded my head yes

He tucked my hair behind my ear and we both leaned in and shared our first kiss. He hugged me after and whispered, "I could get used to that"

"I hope you do" I said smiling

"Goodnight, Kie"

"Goodnight, Jayge" I said going inside to find my mom and dad waiting for me

We have glass doors so they totally just watched me get kissed. I was smiling and my mom said, "You look happy"

"I am"

"I've missed that smile"

"Me too" My dad said

"You're not mad that I'm going out with JJ?"

"No, not at all. It's your life and if JJ makes you happy that's all that matters to me" My mom said

"He's a good kid, he might not have the best home life, but he seems to treat you right" My dad added

"He does, he always has"

"We look forward to properly meeting him when you're ready" My mom said

I went up to bed and saw that JJ had texted me he made it home and that he had a lot of fun. I texted him for a few minutes before getting ready for bed. I fell asleep and the next few days were so much better knowing I had another date with my best friend.

On this date, he took me to the mainland to my favorite ice cream shop and he officially asked me to be his girlfriend, I obviously said yes and we went back to the chateau to share the news with the pogues.

"I'm so happy for you guys" Sarah said hugging me

"Bro, you finally got the girl of your dreams" John B smirked

"Congrats, but JJ you better not break her heart" Pope joked

"Never plan on it" JJ said seriously

We all hung out and it was late and JJ and I went down to the dock and sat down at the edge.

"Hey Jayge"

"Yeah?"

"Can I plan the next date?"

"Be my guest, but nothing too fancy. I'm not ready to go full kook" He said

"Damn, guess my ballroom dance date is out of the question" I joked

"Please don't ever make me do that"

"Don't worry, that sounds like actual hell"

We sat out there talking for almost an hour before he looked at me and said, "You're so beautiful and I still can't believe you're actually my girlfriend"

"Well, I am and you're stuck with me because I don't plan on ever breaking up with you"

"Well, I plan on you not being my girlfriend someday..." He said seriously

"What?" I asked confused and almost mad but I held it together to hear his response

"Because you're hopefully going to be my wife someday"

My heart melted. JJ Maybank, the tough pogue who got into fights all the time, who didn't take shit from anyone had this soft adorable side with me and I loved it. It brought tears to my eyes and I didn't even know what to say. I wanted to say something like I can't wait to be your wife or you're gonna be the best husband but what came out of my mouth was, "I love you"

He looked deep into my soul and he said, "I love you too"

We both leaned in and shared a kiss on the dock under the stars. This kiss turned into a little makeout sesh, but I wasn't complaining. I was so in love with JJ Maybank.